Amazon's Kindle now 10% less
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 27th 2008 7:29AM
posted May 27th 2008 7:29AM
posted May 27th 2008 7:29AM
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Kindles were on backorder until the last month or so when Amazon brought in a second factory to produce the devices. Now the supply can keep up. Amazon is using this as a opportunity to increase their volume by lowering the price.
Remember that Amazon has two ways to make money on the Kindle... the device itself and on the books that owners buy.
If they can increase the volume of Kindles in people's hands by lowering the price, they can make up the difference in increased ebook sales.
Still economics but slightly more complex than a simple supply/demand calculation.
While I like the Kindle concept, I too won't buy it @$399 let alone $359. When it gets down to $150 call me.
For now, I'll enjoy my reading content in .PDF, Mobipocket eBook, Audible, .mp3, and physical tree killer media. ALL of which is significantly lower in operating costs than a Kindle.
I can't wait to buy this item with my stimulus check! Stimulus my a**!
top ten reason's I love my kindle:
1.) Print size can be adjusted for tired geezer eyes.
2.) Big page forward button on the right side of the device
is very kind to my arthritic thumb - don't laugh - it will
probably happen to you sooner than later.
3.) Free download of book samples encourages me to browse
catagories I would not normally take the time to check in
the bookstore or library.
4.) I don't have to drive anywhere get my reading fix and I
don't have to wonder who handled that library book last.
eeech.
5.) Home delivery of my two favorite out of town newspapers
was strongly affected by weather - also, I was spending
around $50 bucks a month for them - I now spend around
$20 bucks a month and I no longer have piles of paper
waiting to be recycled. This device will save me money
this year.
6.) OK I'm a global news junkie....lots of free international
news I was not taking advantage of on my desktop - my
eyes or back would eventually get fatigued - are available
thru the kindle web browser.
7.) Newspapers and magazines on Kindle that I've sampled
don't contain any advertising.
8.) I no longer hunt for misplaced books and I never loose my
place.
9.) Easier for me to hold the kindle than a book and I can read
anywhere.
10.) White color of the device quickly fades out of my field of
vision as I'm reading so I'm not visually distracted from
the story.
Amazon has done a great job with the unit but I'm wondering
where the textbook and trade materials are....seems to me
there would be very strong markets among students and
professionals. Clipping and highlighting features would work
very well for study materials and God knows backpack weights
are still out of control.
As for the cost being too high....really. I'm willing to bet most of
the folks on this blog paid more for their X-box 360, playstation 3,
or gadget riddled cell phone. If your priority is reading don't wait
for the kindle 2.
Several years ago I bought the Rocket eBook when the price dropped from around $600 to $299 and upgraded when Gemstar bought Rocket eBook out and dropped the price to $199, giving my skeptical husband the old one which he loved. I was very disappointed that Gemstar stopped production and eventually shut down the on-line library were you stored purchased books in your account.
Some public libraries (at least in Minnesota) had several ebook readers that coud be checked out loaded with books you selected. Maybe Amazon will do something like this in the future for the Kindle, but instead of having the readers they would have specially coded books that would be available for download to all Kindle ebook readers with an expiration code (kinda like trial software has) so you would have to re-checkout the book to keep reading if you haven't returned it in time just like a hard copy book.
I have been waiting for the ebook reader technology to resurface for several years and I'm very excited to see that the eBook reader is finally available again. I have been saving since I found out the ebook reader was back on the market. What a bonus that the price dropped while I was saving. My husband thinks the price should be lower, I agree, but I don't think I can wait for the price to come down, I may buy one this week but I am still a little nervous because I was soooo disappointed when the Gemstar went out of production and stopped supporting ebooks, though, even with the short life of the Gemstar reader I really enjoyed reading on the ebook reader and am sure to get my money's worth shortly after the purchase. The one thing I don't like is that the reader is not backlit, which was really nice reading in bed without disturbing my husband.